los angeles domestic violence attorney

While domestic violence continues to be a significant public health problem across the nation, the fact remains that the United States enjoys some of the strongest legal protections against domestic violence found anywhere on earth. With more than one billion women living in countries with no legal protections against DV, it’s evident there is still much work to be done to change mindsets and provide more protection across the globe. And yet, in recent years, the world has seen a remarkable amount of progress as more and more countries pass stricter laws and stronger penalties against domestic violence. Let’s take a snapshot of our world and look at this issue from an international perspective. Where are domestic violence protections strongest? Where are they nonexistent? How much progress is being made?

The Good News About Domestic Violence Protections Internationally

As recently as 2006, only 60 nations across the globe had passed laws prohibiting domestic violence; by 2011, the UN reported that that number had more than doubled, to 127 nations. The latest numbers show that 144 countries now have laws in place to protect domestic violence victims and punish the perpetrators. This data indicates a positive trend of new laws being passed with heightened awareness of the need to protect victims. The Washington Post reports that the continents of North America and Europe currently enjoy the strongest and most consistent legal protections available for domestic violence victims–and the United States is at or very near the top of the list. Other nations with similar laws against domestic violence include Chile, Columbia, New Zealand, South Africa, Austria, and the UK.

California’s laws regarding domestic violence are wide-reaching and very strict, with potentially severe consequences for those who are accused. But when the alleged victim/survivor is a senior citizen, an incident of violence may fold into other parts of the law, resulting in possible further charges and penalties. Let’s take a closer look at the issue of domestic violence involving seniors and what you might face if you are arrested on suspicion of violence against an elderly person.

A Look at the Numbers

Although violence against women certainly isn’t the only form of domestic violence, most cases do target women as the victim. That being said, statistically speaking, violence against the aged is almost as common as violence against women—so much so that most states (including California) recognize elder abuse as a separate category of crime. Here in the U.S., approximately one in five seniors will experience some form of abuse (compared to one in four women), the vast majority of which will never be reported. Among those cases of elder abuse, at least two-thirds of them are committed by a family member (e.g., a child or spouse). By these numbers, two-thirds of the incidents of elder abuse also technically classify as acts of domestic violence.

Articles Tagged with los angeles domestic violence attorney

A Look at Domestic Violence Internationally

Domestic Violence and Senior Citizens